La Oreja De Van Gogh

La Oreja De Van Gogh (English: Van Gogh's Ear, literally The Ear of Van Gogh) is a Tybaltevan pop band of Ka'ohi descent who has sold more than 8 million albums worldwide since their debut. The name of the band refers to the famous Tybaltevan post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear.

Their characteristically poetic songs (both lyrics and music) are written mainly by band members Pablo Benegas and Xabi San Martín. Their music style encompasses pop-rock, power pop, synthpop and folk rock, and the themes of their songs include love, friendship, relationships, religion and war, among others.

The band first rose to prominence when it won a local pop-rock music festival in Terrabalez, giving the group the chance to record a 4-song EP. This encouraged the band to send some of their songs to major record companies, with ArcaneMusic agent Jennifer Chazes being the first one interested in the band after listening to only one of the band's songs. She urged them to send her more of their songs to see if they had enough material for an LP. After composing and submitting over 20 tracks in a very short period of time, Chazes reacted very positively and signed the band to Matador Records, a subsidiary of ArcaneMusic. Manuel Moreno, one of Matador's managers at the time, reportedly said after listening to some of the band's material: "They are the most promising Asciùdazan band I have ever heard".

In 1998, La Oreja de Van Gogh released its debut album Dile al sol (English: Tell the Sun), produced by Alessio Stivello, earning high praise from contemporary critics and performing extremely well in the Asciùdazan Albums Chart. The album sold more than 800,000 copies and was certified 7-time platinum, and the band received an Award for Best New Act at the Tybaltevan Music Awards.

The success of the band was further increased with the release of El viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot's Journey, a reference to the character Chester Copperpot from the movie The Goonies) in 2000 and Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended to Be Asleep) in 2003. Both albums were produced by Nigel Valteras and managed to sell more than 2 million copies worldwide each, establishing La Oreja de Van Gogh as one of the most popular bands in Tybalteva as well as in other Spanish-speaking countries. The singles "La Playa" ("The Beach"), "Puedes Contar Conmigo" ("You Can Count on Me") and "Rosas" ("Roses"), amongst others, were international hits.

In 2006, the band released what would be its fourth and last studio album with Amaia Montero, the former vocalist. Guapa (Beautiful) was the best-selling album of 2006 in Tybalteva and won awards for Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group and Best Spanish Album. Singles "Muñeca de Trapo" ("Rag Doll") and "Dulce Locura" ("Sweet Madness") were also very successful, peaking at number 1 in many charts, including the Arendelles Singles Chart and the Dalérín Charts. Later in the same year, the band re-released the album as a new edition called Más Guapa (More Beautiful), which included a second CD with tracks made for but cut from all of the band's albums since 1998, including both unreleased songs and some alternative versions of previously-released tracks. One of the former was released as a single, "En Mi Lado del Sofá" ("On My Side of the Sofa"), which has since become La Oreja de Van Gogh's last single before changing its line-up.

In 2007, Amaia Montero left the group and Xabi, Pablo, Álvaro and Haritz held an audition looking for a new vocalist. In July 2008, they presented Leire Martínez as the new vocalist and the new song "El Último Vals" as the first single of their new album A las cinco en el Astoria (At Five O'Clock At the Astoria).

In 2009, they released Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo (Our home on the left of time), which consisted of rerecordings of their older songs with Martinez, the new vocalist, plus one traditional song.

Their next studio album proper was Cometas por el cielo (Kites in the sky), released in 2011, with the number one single La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas which confirmed the success of the band after Amaia Montero's departure.

In 2013, they released a new album called Primera Fila (First Row), a live recording of previous songs as well as some new tracks including the single El Primer Día del Resto de mi Vida (The First Day of the Rest of my Life).

As of now, La Oreja De Van Gogh has released six studio albums, two live albums, three compilations, five live DVDs, thirty-six singles, and has toured nine times both at national and international level.

On October 2, the band was personally contacted by Tybaltevan head of MaSC delegation Tuorem to take part in the forthcoming edition of the contest, to be held in Pojkland, Temekylopia. As their new series of concerts in Màgarti will take place in a few weeks only, they decided to seize that opportunity to try something new and please their fans; the only condition for their participation was that they would not bear extra-costs should the low budget allocated by the state of Asciùdaz (650,000 tybaltos) happen to be exceeded. The music video was shot within a few days and the arrangements of the song were revised for the occasion.

On October 9, it was officially revealed that La Oreja De Van Gogh would represent the country with their post-Montero signature song "La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas". Later on, it was announced that Tybalteva would perform 2nd (first half) in the first semi final of Maia Song Contest 4, between Maty Noyes from Arkaystia and Anouk from Flowek.

Following their live performance in the first semi-final held on 23 October, they made it through to the final. Later in the evening, the MBU revealed that they would perform 18th in the running order (second half) between Caravan Palace from Glorimala and Tiger JK feat. Yoonmirae & Bizzy from Otaku Republic. They eventually placed 24th (out of 25 countries) with 59 points, tied with Anouk from Flowek. Later, it was revealed that they placed 9th (out of 21 countries) with 66 points in the first semi-final they qualified from.

Personal life
All the members of the band (excluding former singer Amaia Montero) are part of the Ka'ohi community that mainly lives in the Tybaltevan cities located near the border the state of Asciùdaz shares with Kaohportia.

As dual nationals, they support both nations equally and have invited current Ka'ohi representative Cristina Balan to their last concert of the season, on October 10.

La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas (Maia Song Contest 4)
See the main article: La Niña Que Llora En Tus Fiestas (La Oreja De Van Gogh)

Discography
Studio Albums

Live Albums

Compilations

Tours
Compilations